We’re going to try to offer a quick look at the major varieties of guitar effects pedals. In part 1 we’ll cover the essentials.

We understand that there are millions of websites offering insight to this particular topic, however its been our experience that they’re authored by engineers, not musicians… they read like microwave manuals as opposed to a helpful resource… Anyway… off we go.

Boost

I can’t really milk more than a few lines using this topic. It’s pretty cut and dry- a boost pedal will offer your signal a volume boost – or cut, depending on how you’ve got it set. Most boost pedals work as a master volume control enabling you a pretty wide range of use.

Why do I need an enhancement pedal? To create your guitar volume up over the other band throughout a solo, to get your amp harder by feeding it a hotter signal, to possess a set volume change on the press of a button.

Overdrive

When most guitarists focus on overdrive, they may be making reference to the smooth ‘distortion’ made by their tube amps when driven to begin breaking up. Overdrive pedals are designed to either replicate this tone (with limited success) or drive a tube amp into overdrive, creating those screaming tubes beyond the things they normally could do without wall shaking volume.

How come I would like an overdrive pedal? Overdrive pedals bring an increase pedal- which means you get those inherent benefits, you’ll acquire some added girth to the tone in the distortion created by the pedal. Most overdrive pedals have tone control offering you wider tone shaping possibilities.

Distortion

Based on our above meaning of overdrive, distortion is how overdrive leaves off. Within the rock guitar world think Van Halen and beyond for a clear illustration of distorted guitar tone. Distortion pedals often emulate high gain amps that create thick walls of sound small tube amps are certainly not effective at creating. If you’re lucky enough to have a large Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Diezel or other monster amplifier to generate your distortion you possibly will not want a distortion pedal. But for the rest of us mere mortals, guitar pedal reviews are essential to modern guitar tone.

Why do I want a distortion pedal? You wish to be relevant don’t you? Despite having large amps, like those stated previously, distortion pedals play an important role in modern music. They provide flexibility that boosts and overdrives simply cannot rival.

Fuzz

God bless Ike Turner and the Kinks. Both acts achieved their landmark tones by utilizing abused speaker cabinets. Ike dropped his in the street walking straight into Sun Records to record Rocket 88, the Kinks cut their speakers with knives roughly the legends get it. No matter how they got it, their tone changed the globe. Some call it distortion, some refer to it as fuzz, however, seeing the progression readily available damaged speakers for the fuzz boxes created to emulate those tones, I believe its safest to call what Turner and Davies created/came across was fuzz.

So why do I would like a fuzz pedal? Ya like Hendrix, don’t ya? In every honesty, the fuzz pedal is seeing resurgence in popular music currently. Bands like Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Muse as well as the White Stripes rely heavily on classic designs on recent releases.

Compressor

The task of a compressor is usually to deliver a much volume output. It can make the soft parts louder, and also the loud parts softer. Current country music guitar tone is driven by the use of compression.

The earliest “flanger” effects were manufactured in the studio by playing 2 tape decks, both playing exactly the same sounds, while an engineer would decelerate or accelerate the playback of one of several dupe signals. This is how you can produce wooshing jet streams. The edge from the old fashioned tape reels is known as the flange.

So why do I needed a flanger? A flanger will offer a new color for your tonal palette. It is possible to accept out one, but you’ll never get several of the nuance coloring from the Van Halen’s, Pink Floyd’s, or Rush’s of the world.

Phase shifter

The phase shifter bridges the space between Flanger and Chorus. Early phasers were intended to recreate the spinning speaker of the Leslie. Phase shifting’s over use might be heard all around the first few Van Halen albums.

Why do I need a phase shifter? See Flangers answer.

Chorus

Chorus pedals split your signal in 2, modulates one of those by slowing it down and detuning it, then mixes it way back in with all the original signal. The outcome should certainly sound dexspky30 several guitarists playing exactly the same thing as well, producing a wide swelling sound, having said that i don’t hear it. You need to do have a thicker more lush tone, but it really doesn’t seem to be a chorus of players to me.

Exactly why do I need a chorus? Because Andy Summers uses one, and Paul Raven says so… which should be adequate.

Tremolo

Like a kid, did you ever have fun with the amount knob about the TV or maybe the radio manically turning it down and up? Yeah? Well you had been a tremolo effect.

Exactly why do I would like a tremolo pedal? 6 words for ya: The Smiths ‘How Soon Is Now’

Delay

A delay pedal results in a copy of an incoming signal and slightly time-delays its replay. You can use it to create a “slap back” (single repetition) or even an echo (multiple repetitions) effect. Who amongst us can’t appreciate The Edges consumption of rock guitar effects delay throughout U2s career?